Battle of the Tenaru 1942
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 21 August 1942 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1942 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Solomon Islands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Oceania | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Guadalcanal campaign | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Empire of Japan, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -9.4222, 160.0668 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on 21 August 1942, on the island of Guadalcanal during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The battle was the first major Japanese land offensive during the Guadalcanal campaign.
In the battle, U.S. Marines, under the overall command of U.S. Major General Alexander Vandegrift, repulsed an assault by the "First Element" of the "Ichiki" Regiment, under the command of Japanese Colonel Kiyonao Ichiki. The Marines were defending the Lunga perimeter that guarded Henderson Field which had been captured by the Allies in landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August. Ichiki's unit was sent to Guadalcanal in response to the Allied landings there with the mission of recapturing the airfield and driving the Allied forces off the island.
Underestimating the strength of Allied forces on Guadalcanal, which at the time numbered about 11,000 personnel, Ichiki's 900-man unit conducted a nighttime frontal assault on Marine positions at Alligator Creek on the east side of the Lunga perimeter. Jacob Vouza, a Coastwatcher scout, warned the Americans of the impending attack minutes before Ichiki's assault.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Tenaru (revision 1381297044), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle for Henderson Field 1942 · 2 km
- Battle of Edson's Ridge 1942 · 3 km
- Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse 1942 · 11 km
- Koli Point action 1942 · 12 km
- Actions along the Matanikau 1942 · 31 km
- Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 1942 · 32 km
Other battles of the Guadalcanal campaign
- Actions along the Matanikau 1942
- Battle of Edson's Ridge 1942
- Battle of Tassafaronga 1942
- Battle of Tulagi and Gavutu–Tanambogo 1942
- Battle of Rennell Island 1943
All 6 battles of the Guadalcanal campaign →
Browse more: battles in Solomon Islands · Oceania · World War II era battles